Where the ability to read was once the proudly worn badge of citizenship passed from generation to generation, America now graduates kids less educated than their parents. Where reading was once a primary form of entertainment (pre-TV, for instance), in the souls of our rising generations reading gratifies much less than button-activated possibilities. For growing numbers of Americans, reading is now just for functioning in society and a means to click a link, but otherwise something Grandma does.

For publishers, this bleak scenario is a long-term business problem.

And the trend won’t be reversed unless two things happen:

One, reading must again become fashionable–not merely essential.

Two, publishers must make it so–the days of someone else leading the charge are gone. Long gone.

So for publishers serious about Reader Creation and Development (RC&D), I have the following preposterous, somewhat counter-intuitive suggestions. Suspend your disbelief and swallow your objections–these ideas can be done, and they will work.